Think Twice
by iaculum
Summary: What if Paul wasn't everything Dawn though he was? What if he had something to hide? What are the true consequences of recklessness? Sometimes, you have to look twice, because things aren't always as they seem... Ikarishipping, New charcaters
1. Prolouge

He wasn't going to make it.

The cruel wind clawed at his hair, his face. The snow was blinding him. The apparently harmless white powder wanted to chain his limbs to the frozen ground and keep him there. The problem, however, did not lie in the fact that he was probably going to be stranded out here, and most likely die in the process. That wasn't it at all. The_ real_ problem was that he had _her _with him, and that if he died, so did she.

This was the only reason why he was keeping up with this hopeless struggle with the elements; no matter how deluded or useless the action was. He couldn't fail. That was his sole reason for everything really, but this time, it meant so much more. If he did, it was over, and she would be gone; forever, and it would be his fault. The world deserved someone like her, and she deserved to live. He wouldn't be the reason for her loss.

Suddenly, he saw something, or rather, someone. Three hazy figures were silhouetted against the thick layer of fog that had descended on the mountain. They were his last hope. If he didn't attract their attention now, all would be lost.

At the time, it didn't even occur to him that it was a little strange for three people to be outside in a storm like this.

Because he didn't think about what he was doing. He never _thought_. That was what started everything. Reckless was his middle name.

'Help!' he cried desperately, 'please help us!'

The three shadows began to make their way slowly towards him, he didn't make any attempt to get closer to them himself; he was too busy trying to keep the wind off her frail body. He didn't even hear their approach. Suddenly, they were just there. He raised his head, shielding his eyes from the glare of the relentless snow.

He almost got up and ran for his life.

If is wasn't for the barely warm weight of _her _against his body, he would have leapt to his feet and bolted. Just like he always had. But this time...

_Not them. _

_Not her._

_Please, not her._

The smallest one, who, despite her size, was clearly the superior, looked down on him. Even through the blinding white, he could see the smirk on her face, the satisfied gleam in her cold, emerald eyes. She titled her head slightly and smiled.

'It's been such a long time. Finally, we are together again. Your little game is over now, Kage. We've had a plenty of fun, but now you finally see that you can't hide from me.'

That struck a nerve. He had no strength left, but he wasn't going to stand for that. So he bared his teeth and spat back at her.

'My name, Emma, is _Paul.'_


	2. Chapter 1

**A/n:** **Thank you so much for the two lovely reviews! They mean a lot, really! There is nothing like coming home from school to find some people have enjoyed your writing. It made my day! Thank you so much!**

**So, yeah… I present to you Chapter One of Think Twice in Dawn's POV! Enjoy!**

**Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Ash and Brock are not in the story! Sorry about that, but they just don't fit in. I don't hate them or anything, but they'd just get in my way… Dawn is now about fourteen and travelling alone. So it's about four years after the anime ends, okay? Good! On with the story!**

The first thing she noticed was the smell.

As her consciousness was slowly returned to her, a harsh, stinging sensation assaulted her nostrils.

_Disinfectant _

Centimetere by centimetere, she cautiously raised her eyelids, and surveyed her surroundings for the first time in what felt like years.

White walls, a tiled floor. There was a white bedside table that had a bottle of water and a digital clock on it. The luminous, green numbers informed her it was three a.m.

So… she was in the Pokémon Center? Fair enough. It was marginally better than being out in a blizzard, she supposed. Now the only had to figure out how in hell she had gotten here in the first place, and everything would be fine. She guessed she had been sleeping for a long time. Her bones were stiff and her hair was a tangled disarray of knots; two very obvious clues. Her hair just seemed to automatically morph into a wild bush as soon as her head made contact with a pillow of any sort, she was used to it.

She sat up, and noted with relief all her belongings, such as her poke balls and backpack had all been safely stowed away in the bedside cabinet. That was one load off her mind, at least.

Stretching, she ran her fingers through her long azure locks. It may have been three a.m., but she wasn't the slightest bit tired anymore. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious. The only thing she remembered was the biting cold, the blinding snow and the exhaustion that had locked down on her body and forced her to the ground.

Shuddering at the memory, she got up and walked over to the window. The sky was beautiful in Snowpoint, as they were so far away from anywhere. She had never seen so many stars in her life; it was truly a sight to behold.

She had been gazing dreamily at the stars and letting her mind wonder fro about five minutes or so, when she became aware of a snuffling sound coming from somewhere outside. She glanced down, thinking it was probably a wild Sneseal scavenging for food or something.

She got quite a shock.

It was an Arcanine, just outside the Centre. She hadn't even known they lived out here. In fact, according to her Pokedex, they couldn't even be found out in the wild anywhere in Sinnoh. She had no idea why one was here, in Snowpoint City, of all places. She decided it was most likely an escaped trainer's pokémon or something. She was about to close the curtains and try to go back to sleep when it looked up suddenly, right at her.

It was a very odd Arcanine; it had a yellow streak in its mane, and a very intelligent look in its coal black eyes. It gazed at her steadily from the street and took a few steps toward her window, its head tilted slightly. She could have sworn from where she was standing she saw a flash of surprised recognition in its eyes. It then proceeded to back away and dart agilely down the street, the way only an Arcanine could.

She stared after it in surprise. That must have been the strangest behavior in a pokémon she'd ever seen.

Still, there was no point in worrying about it. What harm could a stray Arcanine do, after all? It was only a pokémon. There was nothing to be concerned about. Sure, it was a little strange looking, but it was probably a contest pokémon. That would explain that yellow streak anyway. Yellow was a fashionable colour right now.

Sighing heavily, she shut the curtains and padded back towards her bed. Even though she'd spent God knows how many hours sleeping, she was suddenly exhausted. She clambered under the cool, white duvet and pulled it over her head, slipping quickly into unconsciousness.

Later that morning, nine a.m. to be exact, she woke again.

Feeling a lot fresher, she had a quick shower, dressed, and grabbed her pokeballs, wanting to be in time to catch some breakfast.

She hurtled downstairs and towards the cafeteria. Rounding the corner, she skidded to a halt in dismay.

'_Closed until lunch' _read the white sign. She sighed in disappointment. She would have to out for breakfast now and, quite frankly, she had had enough of snow to last her a lifetime, thank you very much.

She pushed open the front door of the Pokémon Centre and stepped out into the softly falling snow. Pulling her pink zip-up jacket tighter around herself, she began her trek down the white pavement in hopes of finding a suitable restaurant.

A few streets later and still without any luck, she was on the verge on giving up when she spotted something that distracted her momentarily.

There was a girl, a little older than her, sitting on the windowsill of a nearby shop. That was not; however, what attracted her attention.

The girl was wearing shorts, and a short sleeved black and red t – shirt. She couldn't help staring. She wondered if the girl was aware it was most likely about minus ten degrees. Mornings were cold in Snowpoint.

Her straight black hair fell past her shoulders, and she was wearing a blue headband. Her skin was pale. She didn't appear the least bit uncomfortable in her current surroundings. She was intently focused on her nails for some reason, and showed no sign that indicated she noticed Dawn who had been standing there for about two minutes, shivering. Then she noticed something else quite…unusual about the girl.

She had a long, jagged scar that extended up her left calf and ended just above her knee. She shuddered. She could only imagine how someone so young could get a scar like that.

Suddenly, as if Dawn had yelled her name or made some sort of sign to make her presence known, the girl's head jerked up, Dawn jumped a little and took a few uneasy steps backward.

The girl looked at her with a puzzled expression for a split second, then tossed her hair over her shoulder and stood up abruptly. She looked… _pleased_ to see her, although she couldn't imagine why.

'Hey' said the girl. She had an English accent, which surprised Dawn a little.

'Um..hi' mumbled Dawn nervously. There was something about the older female that made her just a tad wary. She looked up, and noticed the girl's eyes were a deep green.

The girl put her head to one side and smiled, as if something about Dawn's nervousness was amusing. She flicked her fringe out of her eyes.

'Look, I know this is kind of random, but do you know anyone called Ka- I mean _Paul?' _she asked. Her eyes glittered, as if she had just told a good joke.

_Paul?_ She thought. _Wow. I really didn't see that coming. How long has it been since I last saw him? Three, maybe four years? I wonder how he's doing?_

She realized with a start the girl was still waiting for an answer to her question.

'Um…y-yeah, I know him. He's got purple hair, right?'

She nodded. 'That's the one. You don't happen to know where he is, do you?'

She blinked in shock. 'No. It's been a long time since I saw him last. Probably about four years ago. I have no idea where he is now.'

The girl smiled. 'You may find he's closer than you think. Do have any idea who saved you from that blizzard?' She was watching carefully for Dawn's reaction.

She started. 'How do you know about that?' she blurted out before she could stop herself. She ducked her head, embarrassed by her outburst.

Seeming to be satisfied with what she saw, the girl inhaled deeply and grinned, displaying her pearly teeth. 'I was talking to him about two days ago, when he brought you here. He was worried about you, but he had things to do. My friends and I said we'd stick around until you were better. He wanted me to give you this.' She held out her white hat. 'This is yours, I believe?

Dawn nodded, and took the hat. 'Thank you' she said quietly. She wasn't really concentrating on the girl anymore.

_It was _Paul_ who saved me? I thought he went somewhere else after the league. He's still here? Why didn't he stay? I wonder where he is now… he can't be far. She said it was only tow days ago. He couldn't have gone far, could he? Do I have a chance in catching up to him? I never said thank you…I miss him…_

She stopped herself right there.

She didn't _miss_ him. He was an arrogant, egotistical bastard. She only wanted to thank him for saving her life. She owed him one, she supposed.

'You're welcome.' The stranger's voice interrupted her reverie. She stuck out her hand. 'My name is Emma, by the way. It's nice to finally meet you.'

She shook her hand. 'I'm Dawn. It's nice to meet you, too.'

Emma smiled. 'Well, I'd better be off. Listen; if you see _Paul – _her lip curled – be sure to mention _Emma _was looking for him.'

Dawn was a little confused at why she found Paul's name so funny, but something told her not to ask. 'I will. Although knowing him, he's probably in Johto by now.'

Emma laughed. 'Perhaps, I wouldn't bet on it though. Look, I have to go now. Maybe I'll see you round?' Her eyes were gleaming, and it made Dawn a little nervous.

'Sure… maybe…' She said hesitantly, fiddling with a loose thread on her jacket.

Nodding, Emma flicked her hair again. 'Bye then' she said, and waved briefly as she walked away.

Dawn stared after her. This had to be one of the strangest mornings of her entire life.

Only when her stomach rumbled impatiently she remembered why she had come out in the first place. She still had some breakfast hunting to do! Worrying about Paul, Emma, and Arcanines with yellow streaks would have to put on the back burner until she'd had a good meal.

**A/n: Done! Whew, this turned out to be a lot longer than I intended. Oh well!**

**Look, I'm sorry to say I won't always update this quickly. I have to be 'in the zone' if you know what I mean, so you'll have to be patient and bear with me! I doubt I'll have any new chapters up until at least next week, so yeah. **

**Reviews are wonderful! One review is worth a thousand favorites! **


	3. Chapter 2

**A/n: Hey everyone! Thanks for all your reviews and stuff, you're too kind!**

**So, here is Chapter 2 in Paul's POV. It's quite short, and I'm sorry about that. I hope the next one will be longer.**

**Enjoy, and remember, I LOVE REVIEWS! Take the hint people. XD**

* * *

Somehow, he always ended up running away.

He dashed in to the clearing and came to an abrupt halt. It had been about four days since he'd left Snowpoint and there had been no sign of them.

This made him very nervous.

He still had no idea whether they were following him or not, but if they were, they were doing a very good job of it. Just like now, it seemed he was safe. He would stop for a rest here and then move on, maybe to Canalave and catch the next boat going anywhere. He just needed to get out of _here. _He snorted quietly, as if he could delude himself into thinking a boat ride could shake Emma and her _friends_ off. It would take a lot more than that, but it would give him a head start. He sighed, and gazed at the darkening sky, where the first few stars were beginning to appear. It was a beautiful evening, but he wasn't concentrating on that. Other things were on his mind.

He had wanted to stay in Snowpoint until he knew she was safe. He didn't know how she was, and it was annoying him. He knew she hadn't _died_ or anything, but still, knowing her, she could be stranded again for all he knew! Running his fingers through his hair, he reached into his pocket to find her hat. He would have to give it back to her at some point, whenever he saw her again. _If _he ever saw her again, he would have to moving all the time now. He sighed, even though it was indirectly her fault Emma had found him again, he didn't regret saving her. She didn't deserve to die. No – one deserved to die.

He searched about in his pocket, looking for the piece of pink and white headwear.

The hat wasn't there.

He checked every pocket, but it wasn't there. He had lost it.

_This is bad, _he thought. _This is very bad._

Of course, the fact that the hat was lost wasn't bad, that could be fixed easily enough. However, who might have found it was a different story.

_If _she _finds it…Dawn is in danger._

He jumped to his feet. He had to get back to Snowpoint, _now._ If they _had _found the hat, something with Dawn's scent, they would hunt her like dogs. They knew now from that fateful night that getting to Dawn was getting to him and Emma was clever enough to put two and two together. He couldn't allow her to die for his thoughtlessness. They had a trump card now. And he knew _she_ was very willing to play it at any moment.

Suddenly, he heard a twig snap, and a muttered curse, His head whipped round, and he growled under his breath. He had let his guard down, and they had come very close. It would be even closer next time. He had to keep alert.

'Come out,' he snarled under his breath. 'I know you're there. So why don't you just quit being a coward already?'

'Whoa kid, no need to be so harsh. You know I've never been renowned for my stealth!' A young man of about twenty pushed his way out of the undergrowth, and stood over him. He had red hair with a yellow streak tied up in a ponytail, and a black wristband on his left arm. He grinned down at Paul, who glared back up at him.

'You seemed pretty panicked there a few minutes ago. You lose something?' He studied Paul carefully, his arms crossed across his chest.

'That would be none of your business, Buck. Now, if you'll kindly leave me alone, you can run back to Emma and I'll be on my way.' He tried to walk forward, but the man named Buck sidestepped so he was blocking his path again.

'Emma is looking for you. She wants you to come back. You belong with us, you know that.'

He bared his teeth. 'I don't give a damn what Emma wants, she wants everything. You two can follow her round like puppy dogs for all I care.' He clenched his fists. Emma could have found Dawn by now, and this idiot hangs around telling him things he already knew!?

Buck smiled. 'If you're worried about the girl, don't be. We won't hurt her, at least, as long as you co-operate we won't.'

He froze.

He was too late. They _had_ found her.

It couldn't get any worse than this.

He whirled around, 'how did you find her?' He snarled. He had to stop himself from ripping the guy's throat out. He forced down the instinct to attack and glared at him steadily.

Buck ran his tongue over his teeth. 'It was easy, really. We found the hat you dropped and I tracked her. Then, when I had found her, I fetched the other two, simple really.' He grinned. 'Emma gave her the hat back, by the way, so no worries.'

Paul was frozen in place. It _could _get worse. Emma had already _talked_ to Dawn, interacted with her. Who knew when Emma would decide to act?

It was because of his selfishness this had happened. He had left her unprotected, and now his past would become her nightmare, maybe even her death. This was his entire fault. He may as well of left her out on the blizzard, for all the good he had done her.

He shoved past Buck and took off the way he had come. He knew he was walking right into the trap, but he didn't care. As he passed by, the trees seemed to whisper

'_Your fault…' _

Buck stared after him, and grinned.

'Perfect.'

* * *

**A/n: Well, there we have it! **

**Oh yes, Buck is a character from the game, not the anime. I've always liked him, so he gets to be in my story! Yay!**


	4. Chapter 3

**A.N/ Hey everyone! I'm really sorry I took so long to update, but I can only write when I feel like I can, and I haven't felt in the zone lately, if you know what I mean. **

**Anyhow, it's here, so enjoy it while you laugh at my inferior writing skills.**

**Reviews mean a lot to me! One review is a thousand favourites!**

* * *

It had been an odd day. A very odd day indeed.

Dawn sat across the fire from him, her knees hugged to her chest. She still could not believe it was him, was staring intently into the fire, as though a fascinating secret was hidden within the flames. She wasn't even sure he was blinking, but he looked so focused she was afraid to snap him out of his had changed a lot since she had last seen him, four years ago. He had aged, his face had completely lost the childish roundness it had once possessed, his violet hair now straggled messily round his shoulders. His arms were more toned, more muscular.

Still, she didn't care. It was still him, even if he was acting _very_ strangely. Her mind drifted to the afternoon, when he had found her again…

After enjoying a wonderful breakfast, Dawn returned to the Pokémon Centre to retrieve her pokeballs, she planned to give her and her pokémon a workout before going off in search for a suitable place to eat lunch. She found an appropriate place to train for any upcoming contests and frittered the minutes of the morning away in her and her partners strenuous, but satisfying, training about 12, she recalled her party and headed back into the city in search of food.

That was when she saw him. She glanced up, and noticed a figure in the distance, hurtling at an amazing speed from the forest straight towards the city. It was approaching quickly, and she could soon distinguish some individual characteristics.

The first thing she noticed was the violet river that flowed behind his shoulders. There was only one person she had ever met with that colour hair…

_No._ She chastised herself. _You're only seeing what you want to see. It's not him._

She turned and began to walk away, but then he called, and his voice was unmistakable.

'_Dawn! Wait! You have to wait!' _

She whirled round, and almost collided with him, but he skidded to a halt just in time. His hair was all tousled, and there was a thin sheen of sweat covering his face. She wondered how long he had been running for. However, that ceased to matter. She had far more important questions for him.

'_What are you doing here? Why did you save me back there, out in that blizzard? How did you know I was here? How did _you_ get through that blizzard so easily? Are you following me?'_

The flurry of questions entered her brain simultaneously, thus confusing her and rendering her incapable of speech. She could just gawp at him, like an unfortunate Goldeen that flounders desperately on the shore before lying still in defeat. He regarded her warily, as though he expected her to attack him. She remembered that they had never been, well, best friends to put it mildly.

He ran an agitated hand through his hair, and glanced nervously over his shoulder, before looking at her again. His next words came out in a rush.

'Look, I know this may seem pretty weird right now, as it's been about, I don't know, three years? Listen Dawn, I can't explain, but you have to come with me right now, okay? This is serious, I promise to try to explain what I can, when I can, but now I only need you to trust me. Please trust me, Dawn, that's all I'm asking.'

She stared him, speechless. He was asking her to trust him. To come with him, just because he was asking her to, because he wanted her to trust him. His lavender eyes were pleading, she could see no sign of maliciousness or trickery hidden in their depths. She wanted to trust him, and honestly, even though he always had been, for lack of a better word, a bastard, she had always trusted him. He was a bad person in many ways she didn't care to name, but she knew she could trust him.

That was why she nodded her head. A tiny gesture that meant so much to both of them. He seemed to sigh, and relief and a certain gratefulness that he couldn't hide filled his eyes.

'Thank you. I know this may seem really strange, but I'll explain in time.'

He looked at the sky, which was a glaring shade of blue.

'We'd better go. We can't hang around here, are you ready?' He looked at her as though he was hoping she would say yes.

She nodded again; she hadn't yet gathered up enough coherent thought for words. She was working on that one.

He sighed again, in what she assumed was relief. 'Okay then, let's go. We need to be out of here.'

He began to walk. She stayed where she was for a few seconds, willing her muscles to obey her and follow. He glanced over his shoulder, mild irritation evident on his features.

'Are you coming?'

She licked her lips nervously and began to walk after him hesitantly. When she was a few steps ahead of him, she sang in a tone a lot more confident than she felt.

'Why are you asking? You're the one lagging behind.'

He rolled his eyes, and jogged up to her. 'Well _I'm sorry_.' He said, 'it really is a challenge keeping up with you.'

She giggled, and immediately the solemn mood was shattered and she felt far more comfortable in his company. This was more like him, sarcastic and constantly irritated. However, as the day passed and the pink fingers of dusk invaded the crystal sky, he seemed to grow more and more nervous, increasing his pace and forcing her to jog to keep up with him. His stride was very long.

He kept glancing behind him fleetingly, as though making sure she was still there. Neither of them spoke, it didn't seem a good time for words. Her questions could wait until the time was right. The sky eventually became too dark to continue walking, and he declared they would stay in the clearing they had ended up in for the night, before continuing early in the morning. She had agreed, and after a brief dinner, they had made a fire, which led her to this moment, gazing at him while he gazed into the flames.

She could feel the long delayed irritation rising in her; he had dragged her all the way out into the middle of nowhere and now he wasn't going tell her _why?_ He had said in time, well she felt she had given him plenty of time to get his story together. He _owed_ her an explanation.

'How did you know where to find me?' She blurted out before she could stop herself.

He looked up quickly, as though he had forgotten she was even there. This annoyed her further. What had made her agree to this?

He sighed deeply, and ran a hand through his hair.

'I suppose I was hoping you wouldn't ask. Truth is, I did _not_ know where you were. I just happened to be on the way to Snowpoint, and I found you taking a brief nap in the snow. I don't know what would have become of you had I not intervened, you should really dress warmer if your planning to walk through a blizzard, y'know.'

She clenched her teeth, surpassing the urge to slap him across the face. 'Look mister, if you can't even make an _effort_ to be polite, I might just leave now!' She stood up furiously, gathering her things to her chest.

His expression instantly changed, going from smug to panicked in a spilt second.

'No, no! Look Dawn. I'm sorry okay? Just calm down for both our sakes. Sit down and I'll tell you.'

She took a deep breath, gathering all her emotions together, and sat down again. She folded her arms and glared at him.

'Okay, please go on.'

He stared at the ground for a few seconds, before looking at her again.

'I was telling the truth when I said I didn't know you would be out here. I didn't, I just found you there.' He fidgeted nervously. She frowned; she had never seen him this jumpy before.

His head suddenly snapped up, his eyes glittering with rage.

'Not _again.' _He snarled and stood up. His eyes roving round the clearing. He looked down at her suddenly.

'Stay here. Don't move, I'll be back in a minute, okay?

She nodded, baffled by his sudden change in mood. He turned and jogged into the trees, muttering under his breath. For the first time in that day, she felt scared. What was going on? Why was he acting this way? What had happened?

She hugged her knees to her chest and gazed worriedly in the direction he had gone, when the anguished cry of an animal in pain forcefully pierced the blanket of silence that had covered the night. She shook, and prayed for his swift return.

* * *

**A.N/ Dun dun duuuun!!!! What's going to happen!?**

**..........why are you all looking at me?**


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